How can we understand the role people and groups play in the change process?
Social change is made not by heroic individuals, but by the actions of many.
Stakeholder analysis seeks to empower students to understand the wide range of people and groups who may be involved, both directly and indirectly, and their dynamic relationships to the issues at hand.
As with power models, analyzing stakeholders invites students to be introspective about the issues they are exploring. It can help them see how different relationships to power inform their perceptions and conclusions, and how empathy can influence their understandings.
Note: There are contexts in which the concept of "Stakeholder" needs to be considered alongside the understandings of "Rights-holders". For example, contemporary Native American land rights, and the human rights of enslaved Africans during slavery, cannot be diminished or equated with other 'stakeholders' who might be involved.
Learn more about the Integrated Action Civics framework.
Stakeholder Analysis includes 5 analytical tools:
Worldview / Stakeholder Identification / Stakeholder Matrix / Stakeholder Transformation / Deliberative Discourse
Worldview
How does our worldview shape our thoughts and actions?
Where do our beliefs and values come from?
Understanding worldviewis critical for analyzing the role stakeholders play in a change-process. Our worldview - how and why we make sense of the world - shapes our thoughts, opinions and actions. It both contributes to, and is impacted by, one’s identity and influences how we move through the world.
Stakeholder Identification
Who is involved, directly or indirectly, in an event, policy or problem?
Who might be impacted, even remotely, by an action or change?
Building on prior investigation, this model asks students to identify and categorize stakeholders based on their connection to the issue or event under study.
- Direct stakeholders: Those immediately involved or impacted.
- Indirect stakeholders: Those who are secondarily involved or impacted.
- Key stakeholders: Those who are in a position of power or influence..
Stakeholder Matrix
How do the various stakeholders relate to an issue or event?
Who has an interest in change?
Who has the power to effect a desired outcome?
This model helps students explore the motivation and power of different stakeholders involved in a contemporary issue or historical event. After identifying the stakeholders, students place stakeholders along the vertical axis based on the influence or power a stakeholder has, and on the horizontal axis based on the interest the stakeholder has in an issue. For example:
- A student has a high interest in, but low influence over, rules at school.
- A politician may have power to change policy, but low motivation to act on it.
Stakeholder Transformation
How might the stakeholders be mobilized to help realize a goal?
This step asks students to look at each stakeholder and consider how their relationship to an issues would need to shift in order to accomplish a desired change. For each stakeholder, the student asks:
- What is their current relationship to the change process?
- How would we want to see this shift regarding their interest and power?
- What are some possible approaches to realize this shift?
Deliberative Discourse
How do different stakeholders view an issue or a problem?
How can we discuss controversial topics from a stance of curiosity and empathy?
The Deliberative Discourse protocol helps students clarify their stance on controversial topics through an exploration of the viewpoints of different stakeholders. Students:
- Engage in preliminary research and develop initial informed opinions on an issue
- Identify the key stakeholders involved in a situation (see above).
- Jigsaw between table-groups to explore different viewpoints.
- Revisit, reflect upon and revise their initial stance.
- Engage in reflective discussion to identify points of agreement and conflict.